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Monk, comedian handed lengthy Myanmar prison terms
AP - 31 minutes ago
YANGON, Myanmar - Courts in military-ruled Myanmar handed long prison sentences Friday to a prominent Buddhist monk and a popular comedian who are active in the country's pro-democracy movement.
In an intensive crackdown on activists, at least 100 people have received prison sentences of two to 65 years in the past two weeks. Many of them were held for more than a year before being tried.
Comedian and activist Maung Thura _ who is better known by his stage name, Zarganar _ was sentenced to 45 years imprisonment for violations of the Electronics Act, which regulates all forms of electronic communication.
Khin Htay Kywe said the comedian still faces other charges.
Another lawyer said Buddhist monk Ashin Gambira was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment on various charges, including insulting religion, having links with illegal organizations and violating the Immigration Act. The lawyer spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of antagonizing the government.
The monk helped organize last year's mass pro-democracy demonstrations, which were violently suppressed by the army in September last year. He was previously sentenced to 56 years imprisonment on other charges, bringing his total sentence to 68 years.
The wave of harsh sentences has been condemned worldwide by Western governments and human rights organizations, who charge that it makes a mockery of the ruling junta's professed plan to restore democracy with a 2010 election.
Those sentenced included some 70 members of the opposition National League for Democracy party of detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Some of the most severe sentences were handed to 23 members of the 88 Generation Students group, veteran activists who have been spearheading nonviolent protests for the past several years.
Bloggers, musicians and poets have also been among those sent to prison.
On Thursday, well-known hip hop singer Zeyar Thaw, a member of the band "Acid," was jailed for six years, and 14 members of Suu Kyi's party got 2 1/2 years each for calling for her release on her birthday in June, party spokesman Nyan Win said.
Zeyar Thaw is thought to be a leader of Generation Wave, an illegal student group formed in the wake of last year's protests to carry on the struggle for democracy.
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